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line judge not there to enjoy the game, but to make the correct line call

Originally Posted by Cloud7z

That's why being the line judge down the middle would be the best; concentrate on the service then after that, you can just enjoy the game

In actual practice, there are two line judging positions (of the ten) that are the most difficult ones, precisely for the reason provided here. One of them is the centre service line, especially in doubles, and the other is the short service line.

Why?

Because the call is made immediately after the service, and then nothing to call for the rest of the rally. There is therefore adequate opportunity to "just enjoy the game," so that when the time comes to make the call, the chances of the focus necessary will not be there.

When a line judge goes on the court with a mindset to enjoy the rest of the game after concentrating on the service, this line judge will not be able to call upon his/her focus when needed.

Please know, when in doubles, the shuttle lands in the wrong service court, and is near the short service line, the line judge will be required to see this through what, 2 or 3 (or 4) legs that were straddling the centre line. And BCers probably also know that the receiver will generally scoop the shuttle up immediately as it touches the court. What will we have then? The briefest of times to see actually where the shuttle dropped.

Now forum posters who also watch plenty of live action and videos, will recall just how many times in a match there are service line calls that were made. From an average in a MD match, perhaps once or twice. And how long does such a match last? Anywhere from 25' to 75'. When a line judge has enjoyed the game for most of the duration of the match, and then is suddenly called upon to make the correct call, well, see how difficult it would be.

Focus comes with practice, and plenty of experience. Try this in club matches, measure the outcomes. A line judge's primary responsibility is to make the correct call for the line which that position is assigned to.

thinking not allowed

if the umpire clearly thinks the linejudge is wrong, then he will overrule it.
if the umpire clearly thinks the linejudge is correct, then he won't need to say a thing.
...

Just to be clear, thinking suggests there is a situation to be analysed. In fact, in actual practice, there are clear decisions to be made based solely on factual observation.

Either the umpire has clearly seen the shuttle land outside (or inside) the court and there is correction to be made of the line judge's signal. The vocabulary used will then be "Correction. Out," or "Correction. In," as the situation may be. Then call the score.

When the umpire has no need to make any correction, s/he will still need to say something - the score.

Originally Posted by kwun

...
so what circumstances would the umpire turn it into a let? maybe when the umpire thinks the linejudge is an idiot and not competent or not in the right state to make a call? maybe the linejudge fell over or fall asleep?

hm...

As hinted in other posts, the circumstance when an umpire calls a let on a line judge call, is only when the line judge has made an "Unsighted" call, and the umpire also was unsighted, or did not clearly see where the shuttle landed. This is where s/he would call a let.

Umpire is not a psycho-analyst, and I reckon the poster here is just being flippant about the line judge's character or waking-status.

However, in the case of the line judge falling over, there could be more serious reasons. I know of no instances [yet] of a line judge experiencing cardiac arrest, stroke, or some other medical complications, while on court, although I know of just one instance when one line judge who was scheduled for the next match became medically incapacitated.

i know if an umpire is convinced beyond reasonable doubt that a line judge got it wrong, he can overrule the line judge. But what if he thinks it is very close (ie, maybe it's in or maybe it's out), can he call a let?

There's a document on the Badminton World Federation web site called "Recommendations to Technical Officials" that says what umpires, line judges and so on can and can't do.

The umpire can call a let for a line call if both the line judge and the umpire are unsighted (i.e. they couldn't see the shuttle land because someone was in the way). This is very rare--I've never seen it happen in a professional tournament. (I've seen it in local tournaments when there are no line judges.)

If it's very close to the line, too close to be sure either way, then it's counted as in. The umpire shouldn't make a call in that situation.

There's a document on the Badminton World Federation web site called "Recommendations to Technical Officials" that says what umpires, line judges and so on can and can't do.

The umpire can call a let for a line call if both the line judge and the umpire are unsighted (i.e. they couldn't see the shuttle land because someone was in the way). This is very rare--I've never seen it happen in a professional tournament. (I've seen it in local tournaments when there are no line judges.)

If it's very close to the line, too close to be sure either way, then it's counted as in. The umpire shouldn't make a call in that situation.

Just to be clear, thinking suggests there is a situation to be analysed. In fact, in actual practice, there are clear decisions to be made based solely on factual observation.

Either the umpire has clearly seen the shuttle land outside (or inside) the court and there is correction to be made of the line judge's signal. The vocabulary used will then be "Correction. Out," or "Correction. In," as the situation may be. Then call the score.

When the umpire has no need to make any correction, s/he will still need to say something - the score.

As hinted in other posts, the circumstance when an umpire calls a let on a line judge call, is only when the line judge has made an "Unsighted" call, and the umpire also was unsighted, or did not clearly see where the shuttle landed. This is where s/he would call a let.

Umpire is not a psycho-analyst, and I reckon the poster here is just being flippant about the line judge's character or waking-status.

However, in the case of the line judge falling over, there could be more serious reasons. I know of no instances [yet] of a line judge experiencing cardiac arrest, stroke, or some other medical complications, while on court, although I know of just one instance when one line judge who was scheduled for the next match became medically incapacitated.

In international BWF tournaments players may not be trusted on, and if a linejudge fails to see if it's in or out and the umpire hasn't seen it himself either he is allowed to call let. However, usually (depending on the level) players can also give their points away (i.e. they say well i saw it out so it's his turn to serve), this is also the case with national matches. If players cannot agree on the shuttle being in or out the umpire will call a let.
Also in national matches it might be possible that an umpire onplay plays with only two (or sometimes even only one!) linejudges, in which case the linejudges take the opposite lines and the umpire checks the adjacent lines him/herself. In this case it might me very likely that the umpire wasn't able to see if it is either in or out, and if again the players don't come to a fast agreement he may give a let as wel...